Stocking



R. E. DAVIS Oct. 17, 1939.

STOCKING Filed April 19, 1957 Patented Oct. 17, 1939 STAT 'ai S i'iATENTOFFECE 11 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of hosiery, and particularlyto mens half hose. The sock of the present invention is composed ofplain knit fabric throughout, as distinguished from a sock constructed`in part of true ribbed fabric. The sock of the present inventionincludes a special elastic top, a plain leg, and a full fashioned foot,with sole, heel, and high splice reinforcements.

The object of the present invention is to knit the elastic top, theplain leg, and the reinforced heel on a circular knitting machine, as aseamless tube; and to knit the full fashioned foot on a differentmachine in the form of a selvage edged blank, fashioned by transferringstitches inwardly from the opposite edges of the blank.

The construction and mode of manufacture of hosiery in accordance withthe present invention Will be fully disclosed hereinafter, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a complete sock;

Fig. 2 is a portion of the seamless tube as it comes from the circularknitting machine;

Fig. 3 is a View of the tube section of Fig. 2 split longitudinallythroughout a portion of its length with the selvage edged foot blankknit thereto, prior to the closing of the foot and leg to complete thestocking shown in Fig. l; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are views illustrating steps in preparing the tube forknitting the foot of the stocking thereto.

As shown in Fig. l, the stocking comprises a leg portion E, a specialelastic top 2, a full fashioned foot 3, a heel fi, high splicereinforcement 5 above said heel, a reinforced sole extending forwardlyfrom the heel@ and a box-toe l.

` The extreme forward end of the box-toe n of the stocking hascorresponding portions of the opposite edges of the foot blank loopedtogether to close the toe of the stocking, as indicated at The lowerportion of the heel l is also closed by looping corresponding portionsof the opposite edges of the foot blank together, as indicated at t. Thestocking is provided with a seam extending along the under part of thefoot from the looped end S of the toe l to the forward edge of the heeld, as indicated at It. In the present instances, the sock also has aseam extending up the bac-k of the leg from the rear lower edge of theheel li, substantially to the lower part of the elastic top E, asindicated at ii.

According to the principles o-f the present invention, the leg I, top 2,heel fi, high splice 5 (Cl. (i6-178) and the upper part I2 of the instepportion of the stocking lying in front of the high splice 5 are all knitintegrally on a circular knitting machine, preferably one of a typeequipped to produce normal split sole stockings. 5

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the machineproduces a continuous tube A having pairs of diametrically oppositeselvage edged slits a, a formed therein and eX- tending longitudinallyor walewise of the tube A, 10 in spaced relation to each otherlonigtudinally oi' said tube.

At one end of each pair of slits a, a, and eX- tending co-ursewise ortransversely of the tube A, are formed loose courses or other markinglines 15 al, al which divide the tube into a plurality of leg blanks A1,A1.

Extending coursewise around one side of the tube A, from one slit a tothe other slit a of each pair, and walewise from the marking line or20loose course a1 at the lower ends a2 of the slits a, a throughout thelengths of the slits a, a and beyond the upper ends a3, a3 of the slitsa, a, the tube A is knit with a reinforcing thread in addition to theregular knitting thread, to pro- 25 Vide a reinforced area b in thetube, which, in the finished stocking, constitutes the heel 4 and thehigh splice reinforcement 5.

At the end of the tube section or leg blank A, opposite to that in whichthe slits a, a are formed,- a rubber strand l5 is incorporated in theplain fabric ofthe tube A in a series of spiral convolutions I6. Theopposite terminal ends Il' and it of the elastic strand I5 are anchoredin the plain fabric by being knit into one or more stitches of thefabric, to prevent the ends of the rubber strand from pulling away fromthe anchor points il and I3. The'rubber strand l5, in a like manenr, isanchored in the fabric at relatively spaced Wales, in relatively spacedcourses of the stitches of which the fabric is composed, as clearlyshown and described in my copending applications eSrial No. 759,831, ledDecember 31, 1934; Serial No. 28,463, filed June 26, 45 1935,' SerialNo. 34,328, filed Aug. 2, 1935; and Serial No. 41,840, filed Sept. 24,1935.

With the elastic strands I5 being introduced and incorporated in thefabric under tension the portions of the tube A in which said elastic 50is introduced are contracted transversely. This causes these wales ofthe plain fabric to which the elastic strand is attached to be pulled ordrawn together laterally, thereby producing a ribbed eiect and which asa matter of identifi- 55 cation is hereinafter referred to as an elasticmock-rib top 2.

Between the upper anchorage I8 of the rubber strand l5 and the nextsevering line a1 the tube A is provided with a plain fabric section c,corresponding to the plain fabricof which the leg I is composed.

In the side of the tube A in which the instep portion l2 of the leg l isformed, and extending from the severing line al at the lower ends of theslits a, a to the opposite end a3 of the slits a, a., is provided with asection of fabric d which, as will be later described, is subsequentlyraveled away from the line al to the line a4.

The opposite edges a5 and a5 of the slits w, a are selvage edges whichare produced by reciprocatory knitting in those sections of the tubelying between the lines a1 and a4. This is made possible by theemployment of the split sole mechanism of the circular knitting machinein a manner which will be obvious to one skilled in the art.

After the tube A is formed and cut into sec-- tions A1, A1, along thelines a1, al, the tube sections Al, A1 are each split longitudinally,through the side thereof in which the reinforcement b is formed, midwaybetween the slits a, a, from the severing line al at the lower ends a2of the slits a, a to a point approximately adjacent or below theanchorage point l'l of the rubber strand l5.

A line for splitting the tube longitudinally may be readily produced bya drop stitch or by leaving out a needle.

Fig. 3 illustrates the tube section A1 as having been split as abovedescribed, with the split end of the tube opened up and spread in asubstantially nat plane, in which position the inner edges a5, a5 of theheel pieces i are turned at right angles to the wales and placed in linewith the course of stitches which coincides with the instep line o4,which extends between the upper ends a3, a3 of the slits a, a. The upperends a3, a3 of the slits u., a represent the turning points of the heeltabs 4, fi. The fabric d is raveled out from the line al to the line a4after the course of stitches which coincides with the line a are appliedto the needles of the footer. The foot 3, with its plain top i3 andreinforced sole areas B, 5 at the opposite sides thereof and thereinforced box-toe l are then formed in the manner common to theproduction of full fashioned feet, by which extreme outer stitches aretransferred inwardly at predetermined courses to produce selvage edgesid, lf2 on the foot blank.

The blank is then folded until the edges i4, M of the foot and the edgesI9, i9 of the leg, produced by splitting the tube longitudinally, asabove noted, lie in coinciding relation to each other, whereupon theseams I@ and Il and the looped sutures 8 and e are formed to clo'se thefoot and leg of the stocking.

Preferably, the tube sections A1, A1 are not split through the mock ribtops 2, which remain intact in tubular form. The fabric c between theanchor point i3 of the elastic strand l5 and the cutting line alladjacent thereto is then turned inwardly and stitched or looped to theinside surface of the top 2 by any suitable form of elastic connectionsuch as may be produced by a Zig'- Zag or flat lock sewing machine andindicated at 2l) in Fig. 1.

I claim:

1. A leg blank comprising a continuous seamless tube of plain knitfabric having diametrically opposed elongated narrow openings extendinglongitudinally of said tube inwardly from one end thereof and dividingthe tube throughout the full length of said openings into two similarsemicircular selvaged edge portions disposed at opposite sidesrespectively of said openings, and an elastic strand extendingtransversely of the tube in a region adjacent the opposite end of thetube and anchored in said fabric solely at relatively spaced pointstransversely and longitudinally of said tube.

2. A leg blank comprising a continuous seamless tube of plain knitfabric having diametrically apposed elongated narrow opening extendinglongitudinally of said tube inwardly from one end thereof and dividingthe tube throughout the full length of said openings into two similarsemicircular selvaged edge portions disposed at opposite sidesrespectively of said openings, and an elastic strand extendingtransversely of the tube in a region adjacent the opposite end of thetube and anchored in said fabric solely at relatively spaced pointstransversely and longitudinally of saidtube and under tension sufficientto contract said end of said tube below the normal diameter of the tube.

3. A leg blank comprising a continuous seamless tube of plain knitfabric having diametrically opposed elongated narrow openings extendinglongitudinally of said tube inwardly from one end thereof and dividingthe tube throughout the full length of said openingsy into two similarsemi-circular selvaged edge portions disposed at opposite sideslrespectively of said openings, a reinforced area extending around oneside of said tube from one of said openings to the opening oppositethereto, and an elastic strand extending transversely of the tube in aregion adjacent the opposite end of the tube and anchored in said fabricsolely at relatively spaced points transversely and longi-y tudinally ofsaid tube.

4. A leg blank comprising a continuous seamless tube of plain knitfabric having diametrically opposed elongated narrow openings extendinglongitudinally of said tube inwardly from oney end thereof and dividingthe tube throughout the full length of said openings into two similarsemi-circular selvaged edge portions disposed at opposite sidesrespectively of said openings, a reinforced area extending around oneside of said tube from one of said openings to the opening oppositethereto throughout the full length of said openings, and an elasticstrand extending transversely of the tube in a region adjacent theopposite end of the tube and anchored in said fabric' solely atrelatively spaced peints transversely and longitudinally of said tube.

5. A leg blank comprising a continuous seamless tube of plain knitfabric having diametrically opposed elongated narrow openings extendinglongitudinally of said tube inwardly from one' end thereof and dividingthe tube throughout the full length of said openings into two similarsemicircular selvages edge portions disposed at opposite sidesrespectively of said openings, a rein- 6. A leg blank comprising aseamless tube of plain knit fabric, an elastic strand incorporated inand extending transversely of said tube in a region adjacent one end ofsaid tube and anchored in said plain fabric solely at relatively spacedwales in relatively spaced courses of stitches of which said region iscomposed, and a single longitudinally extending appendage projectingfrom the opposite end of the tube around substantially one-half of thecircumference of the tube.

'7. A leg blank comprising a seamless tube of plain knit fabric, anelastic strand incorporated in and extending transversely of said tubein a region adjacent one end of said tube and anchored in said plainfabric solely at relatively spaced wales in relatively spaced courses ofstitches of Which said region is composed, and a single longitudinallyextending appendage projecting from the opposite end of the tube aroundsubstantially one-half of the circumference of the tube with thelongitudinal edges of said appendage formed completely with selvages.

8. A leg blank comprising a seamless tube of plain knit fabric, anelastic strand incorporated in and extending transversely of said tubein a region adjacent one end of said tube and anchored in said plainfabric solely at relatively spaced wales in relatively spaced courses ofstitches of which said region is composed, and a single longitudinallyextending appendage projecting from the opposite end of the tube aroundsubstantially one-half of the circumference of the tube with thelongitudinal edges of said appendage formed completely with selvages andwith said appendage reinforced from the extreme end of said appendage tothe stitch course of said tube intersecting said edges of saidappendage.

9. A leg blank comprising a seamless tube of plain knit fabric, anelastic strand incorporated in and extending transversely of said tubein a region adjacent one end of said tube and anchored in said plainfabric solely at relatively spacedr Wales inl relatively spaced, coursesof stitches of which said region is composed, and a singlelongitudinally extending appendage projecting from the opposite end ofthe tube around substantially one-half of the circumference of the tubewith the longitudinal edges of said appendage formed completely withselvages and with said appendage reinforced from the extreme end of saidappendage to the stitch course of said tube intersecting said edges ofsaid appendage, said reinforcement extending up into said tube beyondsaid stitch course.

10. The process of making hosiery blanks which consists in knitting aseamless tubular leg blank and incorporating in a region adjacent oneend thereof an elastic strand, anchoring said elastic strand solely atpoints spaced circumferentially and longitudinally of said region ofsaid blank, forming longitudinally extending openings at opposite sidesrespectively of the tube at and to a predetermined distance inwardlyfrom the second end of said blank, and raveling out the fabric betweenthe openings at one side of the tube from said second end of the blankto a stitch course intersecting said openings substantially at the basesof said openings to produce a single appendage at the diametricallyopposite side of the blank provided with longitudinally extendingselvage edges formed by said openings to prepare said blank for knittinga full fashioned foot to said edges and to the intersected coursebetween said openings.

ll. The process of making hosiery blanks which consists in knitting aseamless tubular leg blank and incorporating in a region adjacent oneend thereof an elastic strand, anchoring said elastic strand solely atpoints spaced circumferentially and longitudinally of said region ofsaid blank, maintaining said elastic strand under sufficient tension tocontract said region of said blank circumferentially to a diameter lessthan the normal diameter of the tube, forming longitudinally extendingselvage edge openings at opposite sides respectively of the tube at andto a predetermined distance inwardly from the second end of said blank,raveling out the fabric between the openings at one side of the tubefrom said second end of the blank to a stitch course intersecting saidopenings substantially at the bases of said openings to produce a singleappendage at the diametrically opposite side of the blank provided withlongitudinally extending selvage edges formed by said openings, toprepare said blank for knitting a full fashioned foot to said edges andto the intersected course between said openings.

ROBERT E. DAVIS.

